Following the wild success of Barbie, Mattel is bringing another iconic IP to the big screen with Travis Knight's Masters of the Universe. The movie stars Nicholas Galitzine as Adam Glenn / He-Man, with the actor putting on a ton of muscle to look superhero fit. It turns out he almost rocked the character's signature bob, with Galitzine telling CinemaBlend why they decided to change up his hairdo for the big screen.
What we know about Masters of the Universe has been fairly limited, but the cast chatted with CinemaBlend's own Jeff McCob ahead of the movie's release. As you can see in the video above, Nicholas Galitzine was asked about He-Man's cartoon bob, with the Idea of You actor saying:
I mean, look, we obviously talked about hair a lot. He-Man's bob is obviously very iconic, but in a live-action setting in this story that we wanted to tell, it kind of it didn't make as much sense. So the thing that I certainly had in mind was something that felt a little Herculean. Sort of heroic in a way, but also something that we could kind of evolve.
Points were made. While Masters of the Universe reviews have praised the movie's comedy, giving Galitzine a cartoon-accurate bob as He-Man might have been just a bit too goofy. While he's still got long blonde rocks, the cut was made slightly less goofy than the source material.
Clearly there was special care taken with how He-Man looks in Masters of the Universe, even apart from the actor's physicality. He later spoke to CinemaBlend about the difference between He-Man's hair and Adam's when he's not transformed. Galitzine said:
Because obviously when we meet Adam on Earth, the hairs a little greasier, it's a little flatter. It's got it's got a little less life in it. And so, we decided to kind of create this evolution to, to, I guess mimic, Adam's, growing sense of power and self.
As someone who was lucky enough to see Masters of the Universe early, I have to say that the process behind finding He-Man's hair really paid off. On top of Adam getting more ripped when he transforms, his hair gets an upgrade. And I found myself staring at He-Man's hairdo while watching the movie on the big screen.
It was fascinating to see how various characters were adapted in live-action for the new Masters of the Universe movie. While Teela got a new costume that was less revealing, He-Man is more accurate to the source material. We'll just have to see if the movie gets a sequel, and if Nicholas Galitzine's protagonist ends up with a new look.
Masters of the Universe will hit theaters on June 5th as part of the 2026 movie release list. That includes He-Man and his slightly less goofy haircut.
